How To Say Poker In Japanese

An intro to Ikebana - traditional Japanese flower arrangement. Ikebana - Flower Arranging. While flower arrangement for many people in the West consists of symmetrically arranging flowering plants in a vase, Japanese Ikebana (literally 'flowers kept alive') is a lot more complex. Nearly 500 Japanese girls' names. Did you know that Haruko means 'spring child' and Harumi means 'spring beauty'?

1. How To Say Poker In Japanese Languages
2. How To Say Poker In Japanese Translator
3. How To Say Poker Chips In Japanese
4. How To Say Poke In Japanese

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Ready to learn how to count from 1-100+ with Japanese numbers? Let's take a look at the Japanese numbers 1 – 10 in the Sino-Japanese Number system, which is most common:

• 1: 一 (いち ichi‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‎, ichi)
• 2: 二 (に ni‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, ni)
• 3: 三 (さん san‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, san)
• 4: 四 (よん yon‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ / し shi‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, yon or shi)
• 5: 五 (ご go‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, go)
• 6: 六 (ろく roku‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, roku)
• 7: 七 (なな nana‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ / しち shichi‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, nana or shichi)
• 8: 八 (はち hachi‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, hachi)
• 9: 九 (く ku‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ / きゅう kyuu‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, ku or kyuu)
• 10: 十 (じゅう juu‎‎‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎, juu)

You'll see I first wrote the Japanese numbers in kanji but included how to read them in hiragana and romaji (English characters) as well.

The Japanese number system can be quite complex, especially when you first start learning.

While basic counting in Japanese is easy, there are several ways to count… even just to 10. And counting objects can become confusing because of a dreaded thing called 'counters'.

But I'm here to help guide you through it! I'll share all my best tips for counting in Japanese and tricks for getting around some of the difficult parts.

Table of contents

• Japanese Numbers 1-10: How to Count to Ten in Japanese
• The Japanese Number System: The Most Common Japanese Counters

How to Count in Japanese: A Japanese Numbers Overview:

Japanese Numbers 1-10: How to Count to Ten in Japanese

The Japanese number system has two sets of numbers: the Sino-Japanese numbers and the Native Japanese numbers.

The most common Japanese numbers are the Sino-Japanese numbers. But you will often come across 1 – 10 in Native Japanese numbers.

Native Japanese Numbers

Let's check out the Native Japanese row first. You'll only see this system used up to 10, so that makes it easier.

The other cool bonus of this counting system: no counters!

I'll cover counters in a moment, but this set of numbers is considered the universal counter. You can use it to count everything except money, time, and people. So, if you forget the right counter, use these numbers!

The tip to remembering these numbers is that they all end in つ (tsu) except for 10, which is とう (tou).

This also makes it easier when reading the kanji for these numbers. You can always tell which counting system is being used by whether the kanji is followed by つ or not (except 10).

Sino-Japanese Numbers

Now, let's look at the Sino-Japanese numbers. These are the Japanese numbers you'll use most often, and they combine with counters for counting objects.

Once you memorize these 10, counting to 100 is easy!

But take note: three numbers have two different readings: 4, 7, and 9.

The numbers 4 and 9 are considered unlucky in Japanese because し (shi) and く (ku) sound the same as the words for death (死, shi) and agony (苦, ku). So, Japanese people avoid using those readings whenever possible.

Even though 7 is a lucky number, it's reading しち (shichi) also has し so it's more common to say なな (nana).

As for zero, the Japanese word is 零 (rei), but it's more common to say it like in English. ゼロ (zero) is most often used, or まる (maru) which means 'circle' and is like saying 'oh' in English instead of zero.

Japanese Numbers 1-100: How to Count to 100 in Japanese

Counting to 100 in Japanese is super easy once you learn the first 10, and it only uses one system! In Japanese, once you get past 10, you count as if you're adding. Here's how that looks:

11 is 十一 (juuichi): 10 + 1 12 is 十二 (juuni): 10 + 2

and so on up to 19.

Once you get to twenty, it's the same concept, but you start by counting the 10s:

20 is 二十 (nijuu): 2 10's 21 is 二十一 (nijuuichi): 2 10's + 1

and so on, up to 99.

100 gets a new word: 百 (hyaku).

Numbers in Japanese, 1 – 100: A Helpful Chart

A note about Japanese numbers: While counting Japanese numbers is straightforward, sometimes the readings change when used for things like dates and age.

For instance, 20 is called はたち (hatachi) when someone turns 20 years old because that is the age when one is considered to become an adult. Its other irregularity is はつか (hatsuka), which is the 20th day of the month.

Kanji Numbers in Japanese: 1 – 1 Trillion!

Japanese kanji make it easier to read numbers, as the Hiragana can get pretty long as you start getting to bigger numbers.

Plus, you don't have to memorize too many of them, because of how the numbers are stacked to make bigger ones.

So, as you can see, the numbers continue to stack themselves all the way up past a trillion!

The biggest difference is that the big numbers are divided by units of 4 (or 10,000) rather than 3 (1,000). So once you get past 10,000, it can be a bit confusing to think of one million as 'one hundred ten-thousands' at first.

One note, though: Romanized numbers (1, 2, 3) are often used instead of kanji nowadays.

When those large numbers come up, they are written the same as in English. But, it's still important to learn the kanji because they *do still pop up, especially when paired with other kanji.

The Japanese Number System: The Most Common Japanese Counters

So we talked about them a bit earlier, but… What are Japanese counters?

Counters specify what kind of object you're counting in Japanese. Japanese has many, many forms of counters for everything, from long objects to machinery.

It's considered one of the most confusing points of learning Japanese. But, there are some tips to help you learn your way around it.

As I said earlier, if you don't know the counter for an item, you can use the 一つ、二つ (hitotsu, futatsu) system to count your objects up to ten. This will save you a lot of trouble if you memorize the Native Japanese numbers!

The other thing to take note of is that some numbers conjugate differently with certain counters. The ones to look out for are 1, 3, 6, and 8.

Number 1 changes about half the time, while 3, 6, and 8 change most of the time.

三 (3) changes the first letter of any counter from the 'h' column of the kana chart to 'b' or 'p,' like in 三分 (sanpun, 'three minutes').

六 (6) changes the 'h' kana to 'pp,' like 六匹 (roppiki, 'six animals').

八 (8) changes 'h' counters the same as 6, usually. This is not quite a rule, but common enough to help you when you're getting started.

Sometimes, the less common readings of 4, 7, and 9 are used with certain counters, like 七時 (shichiji, '7 o'clock').

Now that that's out of the way, here are the most common counters you should know:

Japanese Counters for People

When counting people in Japanese, you use the counter ~人 (nin) for 3 or more people.

For one person, you say ひとり (hitori), and for two people you say ふたり (futari). Any number after that is the Sino-Japanese number system followed by ~人, such as 三人 (sannin, 'three people').

Japanese Counters for Long Objects

For long, thin objects, like pens, chopsticks, or bottles, the counter is ~本 (hon).

An example would be 四本のペン (yon hon no pen, 'four pens').

Although 本 means 'book' in Japanese, it isn't the counter for books (that's ~冊, satsu, which is the counter for bound objects, like manga).

~本 is also the counter for things like roads, rivers, and train tracks – anything that travels that is very long and thin. It's also used for long-distance telephone calls and travel routes.

Japanese Counters for Small Objects

Used for small objects, connect ~個 (ko) to the number to count it. And it's also used for round objects, like apples: リンゴ二個 (ringo niko, ‘two apples').

Japanese Counters for Animals

When counting small animals, you use ~匹 (hiki), like dogs and cats.

For larger animals, like horses or elephants, you use ~頭 (tou).

For example, 三匹の犬 (sanbiki no inu, 'three dogs' – also note the change from h to b in hiki) and 三頭の馬 (santou no uma, 'three horses').

Japanese Counters for Mechanical Objects

Yes, even cars, your washer and dryer, and your video game console for playing games in Japanese have their own counter. Bicycles fall under this category, too.

You use ~台 (dai) for these objects, like 二台の車 (nidai no kuruma, 'two cars').

Japanese Counters for Units of Time

To express time in Japanese, you've guessed it, you use counters! You express seconds with ~秒 (byou), minutes with ~分 (fun or pun), hours with ~時 (ji), and length of time with ~時間 (jikan).

For months, you use ~月 (getsu), and for years you use ~年 (nen).

Other Common Japanese Counters

Other counters you'll stumble across often are ~枚 (mai), ~回 (kai), and ~階 (kai or gai).

~枚 is used to count flat objects, like paper. ~回 is used to express the number of times, like the number of times in a week you workout. ~階 is used to count the number of floors in a building.

Japanese Grammar for Numbers

In Japanese, numbers can come before or after the item being counted.

But they typically come after the item + particle, such as はがきを五枚買います (Hagaki wo gomai kaimasu, 'I will buy 5 postcards'). はがき (item counted) を (particle) 五枚 (number + counter) 買います (verb).

If you put the number before the item, then it needs の (no) to connect them.

Reversing the last sentence, 五枚のはがきを買います (Gomai no hagaki wo kaimasu) means the same thing but puts the emphasis on the quantity. It's usually said this way in response to a question (like 'How many did you buy?').

A Final Note on Japanese Counters

Don't feel too discouraged about counters in Japanese. They may seem strange or foreign, but we use them all the time in English too.

In English, we count lettuce, cabbage and garlic in heads, thin/fine objects like hairs and threads in strands, and pants in pairs. Some counters are unique to one noun, such as a skein of yarn.

If anything, Japanese is more logical than English when it comes to counters because there's a counter for every noun instead of only a few select ones.

Japanese Ordinal Numbers

Japanese ordinal numbers express order or sequence, like first, second, and third.

In Japanese, you add 第~ (dai) before the number.

So first is 第一 (dai ichi)、第二 (dai ni), and so on.

For numbers with counters that you're giving in a sequence, you add ~目 (me). So 'for the first time' is 一回目 (ikkai me). 'Third person' is 三人目 (sannin me).

Japanese Days of the Month

After counters, this is another difficult aspect of Japanese.

The days of the month are quite inconsistent, especially the first 10 days, plus the 14th, 20th, and 24th.

The first 10 days are more like the Native Japanese counting system, but… not quite. It's best to just memorize them.

The days of the month in Japanese are:

1st – ついたち (tsuitachi) 2nd – ふつか (futsuka) 3rd – みっか (mikka) 4th – よっか (yokka) 5th – いつか (itsuka) 6th – むいか (muika) 7th – なのか (nanoka) 8th – ようか (youka) 9th – ここのか (kokonoka) 10th – とおか (tooka) 14th – じゅうよっか (juuyokka) 20th – はつか (hatsuka) 24th – にじゅうよっか (nijuuyokka)

The rest of the month follows the regular number stacking system + 日 (nichi), like 二十三日 (nijusan nichi, '23rd of the month').

How to Say 'Number' in Japanese + Some Math Words

To say 'number' in Japanese, you can say 数 (kazu) to express a number as quantity, or 数字 (suuji) as in figures or cardinal numbers. 'To count' is 数える (kazoeru).

If you need to express yourself in mathematical terms, here are some words you can use:

Plus: プラス (purasu) or 足す (tasu) Minus: マイナス (mainasu) Equals: は (wa) Multiply: 掛ける (kakeru) Divide: 割る (waru) Half: 半分 (hanbun) Point: 点 (ten)

Japanese Phone Numbers

Saying Japanese phone numbers out loud is pretty straightforward. You always read the numbers as single digits, then you say 'の' (no) wherever the dash is.

So the number 123-456-7890 would be いち に さん の よん ご ろく の なな はち きゅう まる(ichi ni san no yon go roku no nana hachi kyuu maru).

Japanese Number Superstitions

How To Say Poker In Japanese Languages

The last thing you need to know for Japanese numbers? Superstitions! I already mentioned how 4 and 9 are considered to be unlucky numbers. Because they sound the same as 'death' and 'suffering,' you'll notice throughout Japan that those numbers are missing. There may not be a 4th floor of a building, or room number 49.

Japanese Lucky Numbers

The number 7 is considered an extremely lucky number and this is deep-rooted in the culture. From national holidays like 七夕 (Tanabata, Evening of the 7th, on July 7th), to the celebration of life 7 days after birth, it pops up often.

The number 8 is also lucky because it's said to bring prosperity. The kanji, 八, widens at the bottom to bring in more luck and success.

You're the 007 of Japanese Numbers Now!

You're all set! You've had your crash course for numbers in Japanese, and now you can smooth talk your way through the many number systems.

It's a lot to take in at first, but little patterns emerge as you practice using the numbers which makes it easier.

If you're ready to take your Japanese to the next level, make sure to learn the most important Japanese phrases to start speaking and discover how to find a Japanese language exchange partner.

Plus check out Mimic Method Japanese so you can master Japanese pronunciation!

頑張ろう！(Ganbarou, 'Good luck!')

With thanks to Yishin Sho and Henry Park for help with the rules, terminology and variants.

• The Play - Special events - The bomb - Playing Jokers

Introduction

Flower cards were invented in Japan, possibly in order to circumvent laws against playing with conventional 4-suited card decks. Nowadays, however, it is in Korea that games with flower cards are most popular. The best known Korean flower card game is Go Stop, which like most Japanese flower card games is a fishing game.

Players capture cards from a central layout by playing a card of the same month (flower). The aim is to collect scoring combinations among the cards captured. When a player's captures have a sufficient value, the player can stop the game and claim payment, or can continue the game (go) in the hope of winning more, but risking that an opponent will win meanwhile. It is this decision to stop or go that gives the game its name.

The flower cards used for this game are known in Korean as hwatu. Since the game is rather popular, they can often be obtained in supermarkets the sell Korean food or other goods. Korean Flower Cards can also be ordered from amazon.com. If Korean cards are not available, Japanese flower cards can be used as a substitute.

Players and cards

There can be 2 or 3 active players. It is possible for up to six or even seven people to take part in a game, but if there are more than three, only three will play at any one time, while the rest wait for the next deal and may be compensated - see the section on more than three players for further details.

A pack of flower cards - known in Korea as hwatu - is used, consisting of 48 cards, to which one or more jokers may be added. There are 4 cards corresponding to each of the 12 months of the year, in most cases represented by a flower appropriate to the month. Some of these cards also show a ribbon, animal or other object, indicating a higher value.

The cards are divided into four unequal groups: 5 bright (kwang), 9 animals (yul), 10 ribbons (tti) and 24 junk (pi), as shown in the following illustration:

With a little practice, the cards are easy to identify. In most Korean packs (unlike Japanese ones), the five bright (kwang) cards have the Chinese character for 'guang' (bright) printed in white on a red disc, which distinguishes them from the animals (yul). The least obvious card to identify is the junk of the December (rain or willow) suit. Most packs include two different versions of this card, but only one is used in the game.

In addition, most packs contain a collection of jokers with special properties. The game can be played without them, or using just a few of them.

It seems that the number and nature of the jokers varies from deck to deck: below are examples from five decks.

For simplicity of explanation I will assume that the game is played for chips. If you want to play for money you should decide the value of a chip before the game starts. The score can be kept on paper if preferred by recording how many chips each player has won or lost.

Deal and layout

The first dealer is chosen by lot. Thereafter, the winner of each hand deals (and plays first) in the next hand.

The dealer shuffles the cards and the dealer's opponent (the player to dealer's left if there are three players) has the right to cut.

2 players: the dealer deals 10 cards to each player and 8 face up to the centre of the table as follows: 5 cards to dealer's opponent, 5 to dealer, 4 to the table, 5 to dealer's opponent, 5 to dealer, 4 to the table.

3 players: deal 7 cards to each player and 6 face up to the centre of the table as follows: 4 cards to each player, 3 to the table, 3 to each player, 3 to the table. The 3-player game is dealt and played counter-clockwise: the first cards are dealt to the player to dealer's right.

The remaining cards are placed face down in a stack in the centre of the table to form a drawing stock.

As in most card games, the players pick up their cards and look at them, holding them so that the owner can see their faces but their opponents cannot.

The cards that were dealt to the table are laid out face up in the centre area so that all are visible, normally on either side of the drawing stock. I call this the centre layout. During the game cards will be added to and captured from this layout.

Each player stores captured cards in front of him or her, but kept face up so that they are visible to all players. It is convenient to group captured cards into brights, animals, ribbons and junk, so that the state of the game is clear. I will refer to the area where a player keeps captured cards as the player's capture area. Captured cards normally remain in the player's capture area until the end of the play, but there are a few special events that require a player to surrender a captured card, moving it to another player's capture area.

Play

Before the play begins, players check for triples or quads (three or four cards of the same month) in their hands or on the table.

• If there are four cards of the same month on the table, the deal is void. The cards are reshuffled and dealt again by the same dealer.
• If you have four cards of the same month in your hand, you show them and win the game immediately, collecting 5 chips from each opponent. (In a three-player game, if two players have quads, each collects five chips from the third player; if everyone has a quad, the payments cancel and there is no score.)
• If there are three cards of the same month on the table, they are combined into a stack, which is captured as a single unit.

• A player who has three cards of the same month in their hand may declare them at the start of any turn by showing them to the other player(s). This is known as heundeum (literally 'shaking'). It is a disadvantage to hold three cards of the same month, and an even bigger disadvantage if your opponent(s) know that you have them. But if you choose to show your set of three cards before playing any of them you get an extra bonus if you manage to win the game despite this disadvantage.

The dealer plays first. A normal turn consists of

1. playing one card from your hand to the table layout, and then
2. turning the top card of the stock face up and adding it to the table layout.

This may result in the capture of some cards, as detailed below. The turn to play then passes to the right.

The aim of the game is to capture cards by playing cards that match cards in the centre layout. Cards match when they belong to the same month (flower).

• If the card you play from your hand does not match any card in the centre layout, you add it to the centre layout as a separate card, and then turn over the top card of the stock.
• If this card from the stock matches a card in the centre layout, you capture these two cards - the card from the stock and the matching card from the layout - and move them face up to your capture area.
• If the card from the stock matches two cards in the centre layout, you choose which of these cards to capture along with the stock card.
• If the card from the stock matches a stack of three cards in the centre layout, then it captures the stack, and you move all four cards to your capture area.
• If the card turned from the stock matches nothing in the layout, it is also added to the centre layout as a separate card.
• If the card you play from your hand matches (is the same month as) a card in the centre layout, you place it on top of the matching card. If there are two cards of this month in the layout, you can choose on which one you will place your played card. You then turn up the top card of the stock. There are several possibilities:
• If the stock card does not match any card in the centre layout, you add it to the centre layout as a separate card, and you capture the matching pair that you created with the play from your hand, moving them to your capture area, where they are stored face up.
• If the stock card matches a card in the centre layout but not the card you played from your hand, then you place the stock card on a card that it matches, capture both the matching pairs you have created, and move these four cards to your capture area.
• If the stock card matches the pair you created with the card from your hand, and the fourth card of this month is not in the centre layout, you are unlucky. You do not capture anything this turn, but you must add this stock card to the pair you made, creating a stack of three cards. This incident is known as a ppuk. The three-card stack remains in the table layout and can only be captured by the fourth card of this same month.
• If the card you played from your hand matched two cards in the layout, and the card you turn from the stock is also of this same month, you capture all four cards of this month. This is known as ttadak.
• If the card you turn from the stock matches a stack of three matching cards in the layout, then you capture all four of these cards as well as the pair you made with the card you played from your hand.
• If the card you play from your hand matches a stack of three matching cards in the table layout, then it captures this stack and all four cards are moved to your capture area. You then turn a card from the stock, which makes another capture if it matches anything on the table.

After you have played from your hand and from the stock, and taken any cards that you captured, you may have the opportunity to stop the game, if your score is sufficient. Otherwise the turn passes to the next player to your right.

The play continues like this until someone stops the game (see below) or until the cards run out. The deal is such that when the last player plays their last card from hand, there will be just one card remaining in the stock, and of course the final cards will automatically match, leaving the centre layout empty.

Special events during the play

Certain special events allow the current player to capture one junk card from each opponent:

1. There are only two cards in the centre layout, belonging to different months, and the player captures both of them, leaving the centre layout empty (sseul).
2. The centre layout includes two cards of the same month, and the player captures both of them using the other two cards of that month (one from hand and one from stock) (ttadak).
3. The player plays a card from hand that does not match anything in the centre layout, and then draws a matching card from the stock, capturing the card just played (chok).
4. The player captures a stack of three cards (ppuk) by playing the fourth card of this month from hand or stock.

If any of these four things happens, each opponent surrenders one junk card of their choice from their capture area, and the cards are moved face up to the player's capture area. A player who does not have any junk cards in their capture area does not have to surrender a card. Some junk cards are more valuable than others (being worth 2 or 3 cards in scoring): a player who has no ordinary junk cards must surrender a valuable junk card if he or she has one.

However, if the play runs right to the end, the first three special events above don't count in the last player's last turn, since the cards are guaranteed to match. Nevertheless, a capturing a three-card stack (ppuk) at the end of the play still counts.

Capturing a three-card stack that you created yourself in a previous turn is known as ja-ppuk. For this each opponent pays you two junk cards (or a card that is worth at least two junk cards) instead of just one.

Other special events:

How To Say Poker In Japanese Translator

• If you make a ppuk (create a stack of three cards) in your first turn of the game, each opponent pays you 3 chips and play continues.
• If you make a total of three ppuk during one hand, the play ends and each opponent pays you 5 chips. To make a three-card stack is also sometimes called ssada (meaning 'to poop'), so when several of these three-card stacks turn up during a game, people sometimes refer to them as sulssa, which means 'diarrhoea'.

The bomb

If at the start of your turn you have three cards of the same month in your hand and the fourth card of that month is on the table, provided that you have not declared heundeum for your three cards you may play them all at once, capturing all four cards of that month. This is known as bombing the field. You complete your by turn up the top card of the stock as usual.

Playing a bomb leaves you with two cards fewer in your hand than you would normally have (you have played three cards instead of one). To compensate for this, in any two subsequent turns (not necessarily your next turns but at any later turns in the same deal) you may if you wish play no card from your hand and simply turn up and play the top card of the stock. After exercising this option twice you will once again have the normal number of cards.

After you have bombed the field, not playing from hand may be a good option if you are unable to capture anything from the table and suspect that all the cards in your hand are cards that your opponents are waiting to capture when they appear.

Playing jokers

Jokers are bonus cards that add an extra element of luck to the game. Whenever you play a joker - either from your hand or by turning one up from the stock - you place it directly into your capture area face up, and immediately turn up a card from the stock which you must play as a substitute for the joker. Therefore on a turn when you play a joker, you actually turn up two cards from the top of the stock - one as a normal part of your turn and another as a result of playing the joker.

If there are any jokers dealt face up on the table at the start of the game, the dealer moves them to the captured cards in front of him or her and replaces them in the layout by turning face up an equal number of cards from the stock.

Often the game is played with two jokers: one of these jokers counts as two junk and the other counts as three junk, so that there are 50 cards in the pack in total.

Ending the play and payments

Before beginning the game, the players should agree a target score at which the play can be stopped. When there are 3 players the target is normally set at 3 points. With only two players it is usual to set a higher target - normally 5 or 7 points.

Certain combinations of captured cards have a point score, as listed below. The first time that the total score of your captured cards at the end of your turn reaches the agreed target, you have the opportunity to stop the game. You must either say 'Stop', in which case the play ends and you claim payment as detailed below, or you say 'Go' and the game continues.

After you have said 'Go', you do not get another opportunity to stop the game until the score at the end of your turn is higher than it was the last time you said 'Go'. When this happens, you must again announce either 'Stop' or 'Go'.

The scores for combinations of captured cards are as follows. Note that in several cases cards of the December (rain) suit are less valuable than similar cards of other suits.

Example:

The following set of animal cards scores 7 points - 1 for five animals, 1 for the 6th animal and 5 for godori.

The player who stops the game is paid chips equal to their score by each other player. Note that when you stop the game, it does not matter if another player has more score than you. For example in a two-player game with a target of 5, if you achieve a score of 5 at the end of your turn while your opponent has 7 (having previously said 'Go'), you can stop the game and you are paid 5 chips - the opponent's score is wasted.

It is possible for the play to end without a winner. This can happen for example if no player manages to reach the target score, or if a player says 'Go' and then fails to increase his or her score (and no one else achieves the target score) before the cards run out. This is called nagari, and there is no payment for this deal. The cards are shuffled, the same player deals again, and the payments in the new deal are doubled.

With a little practice, the cards are easy to identify. In most Korean packs (unlike Japanese ones), the five bright (kwang) cards have the Chinese character for 'guang' (bright) printed in white on a red disc, which distinguishes them from the animals (yul). The least obvious card to identify is the junk of the December (rain or willow) suit. Most packs include two different versions of this card, but only one is used in the game.

In addition, most packs contain a collection of jokers with special properties. The game can be played without them, or using just a few of them.

It seems that the number and nature of the jokers varies from deck to deck: below are examples from five decks.

For simplicity of explanation I will assume that the game is played for chips. If you want to play for money you should decide the value of a chip before the game starts. The score can be kept on paper if preferred by recording how many chips each player has won or lost.

Deal and layout

The first dealer is chosen by lot. Thereafter, the winner of each hand deals (and plays first) in the next hand.

The dealer shuffles the cards and the dealer's opponent (the player to dealer's left if there are three players) has the right to cut.

2 players: the dealer deals 10 cards to each player and 8 face up to the centre of the table as follows: 5 cards to dealer's opponent, 5 to dealer, 4 to the table, 5 to dealer's opponent, 5 to dealer, 4 to the table.

3 players: deal 7 cards to each player and 6 face up to the centre of the table as follows: 4 cards to each player, 3 to the table, 3 to each player, 3 to the table. The 3-player game is dealt and played counter-clockwise: the first cards are dealt to the player to dealer's right.

The remaining cards are placed face down in a stack in the centre of the table to form a drawing stock.

As in most card games, the players pick up their cards and look at them, holding them so that the owner can see their faces but their opponents cannot.

The cards that were dealt to the table are laid out face up in the centre area so that all are visible, normally on either side of the drawing stock. I call this the centre layout. During the game cards will be added to and captured from this layout.

Each player stores captured cards in front of him or her, but kept face up so that they are visible to all players. It is convenient to group captured cards into brights, animals, ribbons and junk, so that the state of the game is clear. I will refer to the area where a player keeps captured cards as the player's capture area. Captured cards normally remain in the player's capture area until the end of the play, but there are a few special events that require a player to surrender a captured card, moving it to another player's capture area.

Play

Before the play begins, players check for triples or quads (three or four cards of the same month) in their hands or on the table.

• If there are four cards of the same month on the table, the deal is void. The cards are reshuffled and dealt again by the same dealer.
• If you have four cards of the same month in your hand, you show them and win the game immediately, collecting 5 chips from each opponent. (In a three-player game, if two players have quads, each collects five chips from the third player; if everyone has a quad, the payments cancel and there is no score.)
• If there are three cards of the same month on the table, they are combined into a stack, which is captured as a single unit.

• A player who has three cards of the same month in their hand may declare them at the start of any turn by showing them to the other player(s). This is known as heundeum (literally 'shaking'). It is a disadvantage to hold three cards of the same month, and an even bigger disadvantage if your opponent(s) know that you have them. But if you choose to show your set of three cards before playing any of them you get an extra bonus if you manage to win the game despite this disadvantage.

The dealer plays first. A normal turn consists of

1. playing one card from your hand to the table layout, and then
2. turning the top card of the stock face up and adding it to the table layout.

This may result in the capture of some cards, as detailed below. The turn to play then passes to the right.

The aim of the game is to capture cards by playing cards that match cards in the centre layout. Cards match when they belong to the same month (flower).

• If the card you play from your hand does not match any card in the centre layout, you add it to the centre layout as a separate card, and then turn over the top card of the stock.
• If this card from the stock matches a card in the centre layout, you capture these two cards - the card from the stock and the matching card from the layout - and move them face up to your capture area.
• If the card from the stock matches two cards in the centre layout, you choose which of these cards to capture along with the stock card.
• If the card from the stock matches a stack of three cards in the centre layout, then it captures the stack, and you move all four cards to your capture area.
• If the card turned from the stock matches nothing in the layout, it is also added to the centre layout as a separate card.
• If the card you play from your hand matches (is the same month as) a card in the centre layout, you place it on top of the matching card. If there are two cards of this month in the layout, you can choose on which one you will place your played card. You then turn up the top card of the stock. There are several possibilities:
• If the stock card does not match any card in the centre layout, you add it to the centre layout as a separate card, and you capture the matching pair that you created with the play from your hand, moving them to your capture area, where they are stored face up.
• If the stock card matches a card in the centre layout but not the card you played from your hand, then you place the stock card on a card that it matches, capture both the matching pairs you have created, and move these four cards to your capture area.
• If the stock card matches the pair you created with the card from your hand, and the fourth card of this month is not in the centre layout, you are unlucky. You do not capture anything this turn, but you must add this stock card to the pair you made, creating a stack of three cards. This incident is known as a ppuk. The three-card stack remains in the table layout and can only be captured by the fourth card of this same month.
• If the card you played from your hand matched two cards in the layout, and the card you turn from the stock is also of this same month, you capture all four cards of this month. This is known as ttadak.
• If the card you turn from the stock matches a stack of three matching cards in the layout, then you capture all four of these cards as well as the pair you made with the card you played from your hand.
• If the card you play from your hand matches a stack of three matching cards in the table layout, then it captures this stack and all four cards are moved to your capture area. You then turn a card from the stock, which makes another capture if it matches anything on the table.

After you have played from your hand and from the stock, and taken any cards that you captured, you may have the opportunity to stop the game, if your score is sufficient. Otherwise the turn passes to the next player to your right.

The play continues like this until someone stops the game (see below) or until the cards run out. The deal is such that when the last player plays their last card from hand, there will be just one card remaining in the stock, and of course the final cards will automatically match, leaving the centre layout empty.

Special events during the play

Certain special events allow the current player to capture one junk card from each opponent:

1. There are only two cards in the centre layout, belonging to different months, and the player captures both of them, leaving the centre layout empty (sseul).
2. The centre layout includes two cards of the same month, and the player captures both of them using the other two cards of that month (one from hand and one from stock) (ttadak).
3. The player plays a card from hand that does not match anything in the centre layout, and then draws a matching card from the stock, capturing the card just played (chok).
4. The player captures a stack of three cards (ppuk) by playing the fourth card of this month from hand or stock.

If any of these four things happens, each opponent surrenders one junk card of their choice from their capture area, and the cards are moved face up to the player's capture area. A player who does not have any junk cards in their capture area does not have to surrender a card. Some junk cards are more valuable than others (being worth 2 or 3 cards in scoring): a player who has no ordinary junk cards must surrender a valuable junk card if he or she has one.

However, if the play runs right to the end, the first three special events above don't count in the last player's last turn, since the cards are guaranteed to match. Nevertheless, a capturing a three-card stack (ppuk) at the end of the play still counts.

Capturing a three-card stack that you created yourself in a previous turn is known as ja-ppuk. For this each opponent pays you two junk cards (or a card that is worth at least two junk cards) instead of just one.

Other special events:

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• If you make a ppuk (create a stack of three cards) in your first turn of the game, each opponent pays you 3 chips and play continues.
• If you make a total of three ppuk during one hand, the play ends and each opponent pays you 5 chips. To make a three-card stack is also sometimes called ssada (meaning 'to poop'), so when several of these three-card stacks turn up during a game, people sometimes refer to them as sulssa, which means 'diarrhoea'.

The bomb

If at the start of your turn you have three cards of the same month in your hand and the fourth card of that month is on the table, provided that you have not declared heundeum for your three cards you may play them all at once, capturing all four cards of that month. This is known as bombing the field. You complete your by turn up the top card of the stock as usual.

Playing a bomb leaves you with two cards fewer in your hand than you would normally have (you have played three cards instead of one). To compensate for this, in any two subsequent turns (not necessarily your next turns but at any later turns in the same deal) you may if you wish play no card from your hand and simply turn up and play the top card of the stock. After exercising this option twice you will once again have the normal number of cards.

After you have bombed the field, not playing from hand may be a good option if you are unable to capture anything from the table and suspect that all the cards in your hand are cards that your opponents are waiting to capture when they appear.

Playing jokers

Jokers are bonus cards that add an extra element of luck to the game. Whenever you play a joker - either from your hand or by turning one up from the stock - you place it directly into your capture area face up, and immediately turn up a card from the stock which you must play as a substitute for the joker. Therefore on a turn when you play a joker, you actually turn up two cards from the top of the stock - one as a normal part of your turn and another as a result of playing the joker.

If there are any jokers dealt face up on the table at the start of the game, the dealer moves them to the captured cards in front of him or her and replaces them in the layout by turning face up an equal number of cards from the stock.

Often the game is played with two jokers: one of these jokers counts as two junk and the other counts as three junk, so that there are 50 cards in the pack in total.

Ending the play and payments

Before beginning the game, the players should agree a target score at which the play can be stopped. When there are 3 players the target is normally set at 3 points. With only two players it is usual to set a higher target - normally 5 or 7 points.

Certain combinations of captured cards have a point score, as listed below. The first time that the total score of your captured cards at the end of your turn reaches the agreed target, you have the opportunity to stop the game. You must either say 'Stop', in which case the play ends and you claim payment as detailed below, or you say 'Go' and the game continues.

After you have said 'Go', you do not get another opportunity to stop the game until the score at the end of your turn is higher than it was the last time you said 'Go'. When this happens, you must again announce either 'Stop' or 'Go'.

The scores for combinations of captured cards are as follows. Note that in several cases cards of the December (rain) suit are less valuable than similar cards of other suits.

Example:

The following set of animal cards scores 7 points - 1 for five animals, 1 for the 6th animal and 5 for godori.

The player who stops the game is paid chips equal to their score by each other player. Note that when you stop the game, it does not matter if another player has more score than you. For example in a two-player game with a target of 5, if you achieve a score of 5 at the end of your turn while your opponent has 7 (having previously said 'Go'), you can stop the game and you are paid 5 chips - the opponent's score is wasted.

It is possible for the play to end without a winner. This can happen for example if no player manages to reach the target score, or if a player says 'Go' and then fails to increase his or her score (and no one else achieves the target score) before the cards run out. This is called nagari, and there is no payment for this deal. The cards are shuffled, the same player deals again, and the payments in the new deal are doubled.

There are several circumstances in which the number of chips paid to the winner is increased.

• If the winner showed three cards of the same month (heundeum), then each opponent must pay double. If the winner showed two such sets, two doubles are applied, quadrupling the payment.
• If the winner has a scoring set of bright cards, then any opponent with no captured bright cards must pay double (guang-bak).
• If the winner has a set of at least seven animal cards, then each opponent must pay double (meoung-dda).
• If the winner has a set of at least ten junk cards, then any opponent with fewer than five junk cards must pay double (pi-bak). (For this purpose, the special junk cards count as two or three junk, as for scoring).
• If the previous deal ended with no winner (nagari) the payment is doubled.
• If the winner previously said 'Go' once, each opponent pays one extra chip.
• If the winner previously said 'Go' twice, each opponent pays two extra chips.
• If the winner previously said 'Go' three times, each opponent pays double.
• If the winner previously said 'Go' more than three times, the payment is doubled again for each 'Go' beyond three.

When calculating payments, if the winner said 'Go' once or twice, the chips for this are added before the doubles are applied. If the winner said 'Go' three or more times, the chips for the first two 'Goes' are not counted. Doubles are cumulative - for example suppose you win with 7 animals (without Godori) and 11 junk, having said 'go' three times. Your score is 5 points. You add two chips for the first two 'goes', making 7. An opponent who has only 4 junk will pay you 56 chips - there is one double for your 7 yul, another for fewer than 5 junk and another for the third 'go'.

In a three-player game, there are certain circumstances in which one player has to pay the winner on behalf of both losers, while the other loser pays nothing. This is known as dok-bak.

1. If another player wins after you have said 'go', you have to pay the third player's losses as well as your own (go-bak).
2. If you play a card from your hand which does not capture anything but remains on the table or if you leave on the table a card that you could have captured, and another player wins on his or her next turn by capturing this card, you have to pay the third player's losses as well as your own. This is known as oe-myeon. There are two exceptions:
   • Exception a:oe-myeon does not apply if the winner scores points only from junk cards and has not previously said 'go': in that case the losers each pay their own losses.
   • Exception b:oe-myeon does not apply to a player's last card. When you play the last card from your hand and another player wins by taking this card, there is no penalty since you clearly had no choice. Each loser pays for themselves.
3. In order to avoid case 2 (oe-myeon) above, if you think you have no safe play, you may expose your hand at the start of your turn and offer a nagari. This is known as syodang (showdown). The other players must decide in turn whether to accept it. If the player to your right accepts, the player to your left may accept or refuse; if the player to your right refuses, the player to your left automatically accepts. If both accept, the hand counts as a nagari: play ends, there is no payment and the cards are dealt again. If one of the players refuses, you take your turn as usual and play continues.
   • If the player who refused wins the game on his or her next turn, the payments are normal: each loser pays only for himself.
   • If the player other than the one who refused wins on his or her next turn, the player who refused must pay for both losers while the other loser pays nothing.
   • If no one wins on their next turn after the nagari was refused, the effect of the nagari and the refusal expire. If the nagari player still has no safe play, the player would need to offer nagari again to avoid the possibility of dok-bak.
4. A player is allowed to expose his or her cards and offer a nagari on any turn, even if the same player has previously said 'go'. If a player who has said 'go' then offers a nagari and the nagari is refused, and the player who said 'go' and offered nagari manages to win, the player who refused the nagari pays for both the other players as usual. But if the player who refused wins, each of the losers pays for himself: having offered nagari, the player who said 'go' no longer has to pay for both of them.

More than three players

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Go Stop is sometimes played by four, five or six players, but only three of them take part in the play at any one time, while the others drop out and wait for the next deal. This way of playing is called Gwangpalli (Bright-selling).

The deal is the same as for the 3-player game: 4 cards to each player, 3 to the table, 3 to each player and 3 to the table. The dealer and two other players will take part in the game. The cards dealt to the table to form the layout remain face down and unknown until it has been determined which three people will play. The player to dealer's right chooses first whether to play or drop out, then the next player and so on in anticlockwise rotation. As soon as two players other than the dealer have decided to play, the remainder must drop out. If all but three players have already dropped out, the remaining players must play. Example with 5 players, in anticlockwise order A (the dealer), B, C, D, E. The dealer A must play. Suppose that B drops out, C plays and D drops out. Now E must play, so that there will be three players. One the other hand, if D had decided to play, E would have been forced to drop out. If B and C drop out, both D and E are forced to play.

Players who are forced to drop out are paid compensation if they hold any of the following cards:

• bright cards (kwang)
• double junk cards (November rain or coloured December)
• September chrysanthemum with cup
• jokers

The player shows all such cards and is immediately paid two chips for each such card by each player other than the dealer who stayed in. Exception: In the 4-player game only, a player who is forced to drop out with the rain bright and no other brights is not paid any compensation for the rain bright.

If a player who is forced to drop out and claims compensation has a heundeum (three cards of the same month), he shows it and is paid twice as much: that is four chips for each bright, double junk, September cup and joker by each of the two non-dealer players who chose to play.

There is no compensation for players who drop out voluntarily.

After all compensation has been paid, the players who drop out give their hands face down to the dealer. These cards are shuffled with any undealt cards to make the face down stock from which cards are drawn during the game. The six layout cards are then turned face up and the play proceeds as usual between the three players.

If the game ends in a nagari (no one wins), the cards are redealt only to the three players who took part in the nagari game.

Seven players: Gwangpalli can also be used with seven players, provided that there is at least one joker in the pack, so that there are enough cards to deal 7 to each player. No cards are dealt to the table initially - the six table cards are dealt from the cards of the players who have dropped out. In this version some play that if you are not the dealer and you are dealt the animal iris card (May: iris and bridge) you must drop out, but can sell brights in the usual way.

Variant: some play that the compensation payments to those who were forced to drop out are paid at the end of the play by the losers of the game: the winner does not have to pay. If payments are at the end of play, in case of nagari the compensation payments are delayed until the new deal has been played, but the losers must then pay double compensation.

Variant: some play that after a nagari cards are once again dealt to all players at the table. In this case, if you play with compensation paid at the end of the play, there will be no compensation for players forced to drop out of a game that ends in nagari.

Variant: some play with a higher compensation of 3 chips per special card (instead of 2) for a player who is forced to drop out.

Variations

Jokers and Special Cards

Most packs include a selection of jokers with various different properties. It is probably best to include not more than one or two of these. Examples of jokers are:

• One junk - treated just like a captured junk card
• Two junk - treated just like a captured junk card
• Three junk - treated just like a captured junk card
• Boss junk - the player is given a junk card by each opponent
• Double - the owner collects double chips if he or she wins
• Bright protection - the owner who has captured no bright cards does not have to pay double to a winner with a bright set

There are probably many others.

Some play that if the replacement card you draw for a joker makes a ppuk - that is, you played a card from your hand matching one on the table, then drew a joker from the stock, and then drew a third matching card as a replacement for the joker - you do not benefit from the joker. Instead it remains with the ppuk and is taken and used by whoever wins the stack by playing the fourth matching card.

Some play that the chrysanthemum and sake cup card counts as one animal or one junk, rather than two junk.

Some play that it is the iris and bridge card, instead of the chrysanthemum and cup, that counts as an animal or two junk.

Bomb

Some play that when you play a bomb (three cards of the same month to capture the fourth) you turn three cards in succession from the stock to complete your turn. Later in the game when you run out of cards in your hand you simply miss your turn while the others continue playing. This seems to be less interesting than the rule that you turn only one stock card after a bomb, but have the option not to play a card from hand in two subsequent turns.

Heundeum

Some play that when declaring heundeum (three cards of the same month in hand), you must play one of those three cards on the turn in which it is declared.

Some play that winning after declaring heundeum with November or December cards gives the player a quadruple score rather than a double score.

Special Events during Play

On your first turn of the game, if you take all four cards of a month in one turn (either by two captures - ttadak or by capturing a three-card stack), or if the stock card you turn captures the card you played (chok), some award a payment of 3 chips from each opponent for this, and play continues.

Some play that capturing all four cards of a month in your first turn gives you a quadruple score if you win. This is called weol-yak.

Some play that before the deal a month is set, for example by drawing a card from the deck. If a player manages to win having captured all four cards of that month the payment for that deal is quadrupled. This is also called weol-yak.

Baek-hwa-jeom. Some play that if on your first turn you manage to capture a card of each type: guang (bright), yul (animal), tti (ribbon) and pi (junk) you are given one junk card by each opponent who has one. This is known as baek-hwa-jeom (department store). Of course if the dealer achieves this he will receive nothing, as the other player(s) have not had a turn yet and therefore will have no junk to give.

Catching the Boar. Some play with a pot to which all players contribute an equal number of chips at the start of each deal. Any player who captures the boar (the July animal) wins the pot. If no one captures the boar, the pot is carried forward and the agreed number of chips are added, causing it to grow from deal to deal until it is won.
Others play without a pot. Capturing the boar only counts if it happens in a player's first turn of the game, and the player wins a fixed number of chips (as for a first turn ppuk).

Scoring Combinations

Brights

Some score only 3 points rather than 4 for a set of 4 bright including rain (December).
Some apply an extra payment of only 2 chips (rather than a double) when a player without brights pays a winner with a set of brights.

Birds

Some score only 3 points rather than 5 for godori.
Some players recognise four birds: February, April, August and December. A player who captures all four of these birds scores 6 points for yukdori. A player who captures only three of them scores 4 points for bidori if they include the December (rain) bird, or the usual 5 points for godori if they do not include December.

Animals

Some play that a player without animals has to pay double to a player who wins with seven animals - this is known as meoung-bak.

Ribbons

Some play that a player without ribbons has to pay double to a winner who has scored ribbons - this is known as tti-bak.

Junk

In the two-player game, some require a player to have 7 junk rather than 5 to protect against a double payment to a player with a junk set.
Some play that capturing all three double junk cards - September animal, November coloured junk and December (rain) junk - scores an extra 3 points, sometimes known as VIP. However, these 3 points do not count towards the points needed to stop the game.

Eight clovers

Some play that capturing all four April cards and all four July cards scores 8 points. This is known as palssari (eight clovers), but normally when this variant is played, these 8 points do not count towards stopping the game. The points needed to stop the game must be acquired from other combinations..

Stopping the Game and Payment

As mentioned above, the target needed to stop the game can vary. A higher target is harder to achieve, but if you do reach it you are more likely to say 'go', since it is also harder for your opponent to get reach the target. If the target is set higher than 3 in a 3-player game, games will quite often end in nagari (with no winner).

Some award one chip to a player who said 'Go' once before winning, double payment to a player who said 'go' twice, triple payment to a player who said 'go' three times, and so on.

Many players do not enforce the oe-myeon rules in the three-player game. If used, these oe-myeon rules, whereby a player has to pay for both losers if he or she plays a card or neglects a capture that allows an opponent to win, are sometimes quite difficult to apply. It may be necessary to inspect the player's hand carefully to verify whether an alternative play could have prevented the win.

Missions

Most online Go Stop games feature 'missions'. For each deal a particular combination and a multiplier are specified at random. The combination might be for example weol-yak or some particular set of ribbons and the multiplier could be from 2× to 9×. If a player manages to make the combination and win the game, the multiplier is applied to their winnings.

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Other Go Stop web sites

Another set of rules for Go Stop can be found within Tom Sloper's Hanafuda pages.

On BoardGameGeek, Justus Pang has provided a Go Stop Cheat Sheet - a one-page summary of Go Stop cards, combinations and scoring, which can be a convenient reference when learning the game.